And if you have an empty keg, you better return it to the store before Tuesday or you might not get back your keg deposit.

That's because Michigan has a new law requiring beer kegs to be sold with tags that can identify who bought them.

Under the new state law buyers will have to sign a receipt with their name, address, telephone number and driver's license or state ID card number. Retailers will have to attach a yellow tag on each keg and record the tag number on the receipt.

And if customers return the empty kegs without the tags, they won't get their $30 deposits back. They also will be subject to fines and jail if they remove the tags.

The new law mainly is meant to keep party planners from supplying beer to minors and to make the beer buyer accountable if the party gets out of hand.

If police have to break up a party or there is underage drinking going on, the information on the tag will help police track who bought the beer.

"The individual signing the receipt does so with the understanding that he/she is subject to liability of serving the beer to any minor," the law states.

Removing a tag is a misdemeanor punishable by up to 93 days in jail and a fine up to $500.

"I don't think it will affect our business. But I think it's going to make a lot of people mad who already bought kegs and are not going to be returning them until sometime after Nov. 1," said Bill Zeiler, owner of Zeiler's Farm Market in Temperance.

, which does brisk busi

ness in keg beer. "Legally, I won't be able to give them their deposit back."

"It's really unfair that they are going to enforce that right away. They need to give people like a grace period," he said.

His store is near the state line with Ohio, which does not have a keg tag law, although 31 other states already do.

Mr. Zeiler said he didn't think the law would affect sales, although it adds to the red tape.

"If they want a keg, I think they're going to get it," he said. "And we already have them fill out a form when we rent them a tap, so we take the same information they'll be giving us anyways and people don't usually complain about that."

At Clip's Party Store in Ottawa Lake, the tag requirement was news to a manager there. "We have regulars that buy our kegs, but we don't really sell a whole lot," she said.

Andrea Miller, a Michigan Liquor Control Commission spokeswoman, said informing customers was left up to retailers and informing retailers was left up to the media.

"We relied on the news, social media and news outlets because we're trying to keep these (tags) free for licensees, and a mass mailing would cost a lot of money," she said.

Joe Bellino, owner of Broadway Market in Monroe, said it will mean more time and trouble for retailers and might drive people to simply buy large packs of cans instead.

"I understand why the state is doing this because they bust a lot of parties and they have keg beer there and no one wants to fess up as to who bought it. But what about a person like me who delivers to private clubs that don't have a license? So when I take six kegs out to a private club, do I have to mark it?"

He said he also has three adult customers who buy a quarter keg a month for their kegerators. Because the law applies to containers of four gallons or more, he will have to fill out tags on their purchases, too.

He said some consumers simply will switch to large packs of cans.

"It's really not cost effective to buy a keg if you want to get drunk," he said. "Buy four cases — it's less deposit money and less everything else, but you have to take all those cans back."

He said keg sales dropped when the state okayed an increase in the deposit fee a few years ago. "That hurt keg sales big time," he said.

Ms. Miller said enforcement will be on a complaint or spot-check basis. State inspectors will be looking at retailer logs during regular inspection visits. "It's another thing they will be checking" when they visit licensees, she said.

The original keg tag bill was introduced in 2009 by a Republican legislator, slightly modified by a Democrat and won strong bipartisan support. It was signed into law in December by then-Gov. Jennifer Granholm.

Earlier this year, House Bill 4137 to repeal the tag requirement was introduced by State Rep. Pat Somerville, R-New Boston, and was referred to a regulatory reform committee, where it still sits.

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